> It would be disturbing to have the head of Johns Hopkins Allergy clinic
> confirm that allergies to bee stings could not be tested for.
 
Obviously, this is not the case.  In a worst case scenario a doctor could
simply stand by with epinephrine and a respirator and supervise while a
patient was stung with a live bee.  (Yes, this is drastic and probably
impractical for someone who may go into anaphylactic shock but the fact
remains that it _is_ a valid test.)
 
Dave got conned, plan and simple-- if the story _is_ as simple as he paid
his $400 and didn't receive any kind of testing or treatment.  Just because
someone is an MD and head of the clinic doesn't mean s/he's honest or knows
what s/he's talking about.  (Doesn't mean the opposite either.)  What one
should not ask a physician is that s/he guarantee that one's body chemistry
will not change with time-- conceivably one could be allergic today and not
a month from know-- but the fact remains that there are clinical tests that
would demonstrate one's reactivity today or a month from now.
 
        -              Conrad Berube
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